Diary

Singing Carols

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In Minneapolis on Saturday, December 21, 1957, Dale wrote, “Dalene and I went downtown Christmas shopping in the morning.  Home for lunch.  Watched football on TV in the afternoon.  Beautiful day.  Stan chamoised his car, cleaned it up.  Dalene went to a girl friend’s in the afternoon.  Stan went to church to sing carols at night.”
Diary

Columbia Heights Basketball Game

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In Minneapolis on Thursday, December 20, 1956, Dale wrote, “Foggy on the way to work.  Low 21°, high 45°.  Nice day.  Took Dalene to a basketball game at night and went after her.”
Diary

Muscatine Sings ‘Messiah’

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The school paper, above, noted that the Muscatine High School chorus, 116 voices under the direction of Max Collins, and four guest soloists (Mrs. Evelyn Sanders Vaneck, soprano; Miss Corinne Hamilton, contralto; Stephen Hobson, tenor; and Harry Morrison, bass) would sing Handel’s Messiah on Sunday, December 19, 1954, with organ accompaniment by Charles Shook and piano accompaniment by Judy Smith.  Ours was the only midwest high school to perform this.
Diary

My Best Job Ever

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On Saturday, December 18, 1954, I got an after-school job at Woolworth’s in Muscatine for 75¢ per hour, maybe the best job ever, wearing a tall chef’s hat and handing out free hot cashew samples to entice customers to the candy counter.  That would be $6.50 per hour today – plus all the cashews you could eat.
Diary

Picking A Tree

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In Muscatine on Thursday, December 17, 1953, Dale took the afternoon off of work.  He wrote, “I took Dalene downtown after school.  Traded some meat to Ed Weise for a turkey.  Got our Christmas tree.”
Diary

Boys On Stilts

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On Monday, December 16, 1918, Jettie’s diary recorded that her sons Lloyd and Dale Gardner (ages 11 and 9, respectively) went to their cousins Wayne and Gene Yates’s (ages 11 and 8) house to play, walking on stilts.  When they went home, they made their own stilts.
Diary

Oh, Christmas Tree

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In Minneapolis on Saturday, December 15, 1956, Dale wrote, “Christmas shopping today.  Put the tree up too.  Snow but not very much.”  Above: their living room.
Diary

Singing ‘Messiah’

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In Muscatine on Sunday, December 14, 1952, Dale wrote, “Cold today, 20° above.  Stayed in the house all day.  Had roast beef for dinner.  Stan sang in ‘Messiah’ at the high school in the afternoon.  Bears beat Cardinals 10-7 on TV in the afternoon.  Stan and Mike went to a show at night.”  A highlight for the chorus every year was singing Handel’s “Messiah,” accompanied on the organ by English teacher Charles Shook, above.
Diary

Just Looking

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In Muscatine on Saturday, December 13, 1952, Dale wrote, “Dalene and I looked at used cars.  20° above most all day.  Stan worked and went to a show at night.”
Diary

Packed Plymouth

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On Wednesday, December 12, 1962, Dale wrote, “The Plymouth is packed full.  Helen and I left Minneapolis after work and drove to Osceola by 11:30.  20 miles per gallon.  Cold and a head wind.  All night at Mother’s.”  Dale and Helen were on their way to California in their 1960 Plymouth (like the one above) to visit me and my family.  Love those fins!
Diary

Installing Wallboard

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In Minneapolis on Sunday, December 11, 1955, Dale wrote, “Helen and I put wallboard on Stanley’s room and closet.”  This was a room in the basement, with a separate bathroom (toilet and shower) also in the basement.
Diary

High School Chorus Concert

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In Minneapolis on Wednesday, December 10, 1958, Dale wrote, “High 15°, low 7° below.  Helen, Dinny, me, and Mr. and Miss Holm went to the high school at night to a chorus concert.  Very good.  Dalene sang a short solo.”  The Holms were neighbors.
Diary

Christmas Shopping

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In Minneapolis on Monday, December 9, 1957, Dale wrote, “High was 41°.  Nice day, cloudy.  Helen and I went downtown Christmas shopping after supper.  Stan and Dalene stayed home.”
Diary

World War II Declared

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In St. Paul on Monday, December 8, 1941, Dale worked in the Alcohol Tax Unit office.  He wrote, “War declared on Japan.  Nothing but war today.  Philippines attacked.”
Diary

A Cold Farm Sale

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On Thursday, December 7, 1950, Dale was in Osceola for his parents’ farm equipment sale (above) and drove back to Muscatine that afternoon.  They realized about $14,000 from the sale, equivalent to $136,000 today.
Diary

Visiting Phillips & Sons

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In Minneapolis on Friday, December 6, 1957, Dale wrote, “Spencer Larson came down to Phillips to visit.  I went shopping at night at S&L for a present for Helen.  We watched a late show.  Dalene is home sick with a cold.”  Spencer was a student renting half the basement room.  Above is a bottle of the peppermint schnapps bottled at Phillips that Dad would take to settle an upset stomach.
Diary

It’s Cold Out There

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In Minneapolis on Friday, December 5, 1958, Dale wrote, “High 3° above, low 2° below.  Letter from Mother.  Stan out to supper with a girl.  Dalene went to a basketball game.  Windy.  Helen tried to get Dusty in the house but he wouldn’t come.  Watched a late movie.”  Our cat Dusty lived under the back porch.
Diary

Planning For The Rose Bowl

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In Minneapolis on Monday, December 4, 1961, Dale wrote, “Dalene finished making arrangements for girls to take to the Rose Bowl.  I called Marie Kimmel at 10:30 p.m. for parade and parking instructions.”  Marie had been there a number of times.  Minnesota was to play UCLA.
Diary

We Lose Roswell

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In Minneapolis on Tuesday, December 3, 1963, Dale wrote, “High about 32°.  Roswell died 2 a.m., in Muscatine.  Mother called and told us in the evening.”  Roswell Gardner was Dale’s cousin, the son of Williams’ brother Charley Gardner.
Diary

Room Mates

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In Minneapolis on Monday, December 2, 1957, Dale wrote, “Helen rented ½ of Stan’s room to Spencer Larson, a telegraph school student.  He moved in after supper.  Stan took Spencer and a friend for a ride over the city.”
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